, 1887-05-26
CHANGES OF TIE EAR.
Fo~ Features More Distinctly BeautiruL.
The Ear of Old Age.


The Ear of Old Age.
a curious proposition has been made
by the chief of police of one of the large
European cities that photographs Of
criminals should be taken, not with the
full face, as now, but with the side face
in view. using the ear especially, other
features changing with the course of
ume-a mouth falling, an eye sinking, o
nose projecting, a brow growing promi-
nent. a cheek either baggy or hollow, a
chin either pointed or doubling-but an
ear always remaining unchanged into old
age, and no two ears being alike; so that
a thief would be known by his ear as
long as there was anything left of him.
This would seem to involve a singular
error on the part of those who follow
such hasty advice, No organ, any close
observer will declare, changes shape more
than the ear does. Even the piercing Of
the lobe for earrings will often pull it
down and initiate it so as to work complete
transformation there; and anybody who
has a equity acquaintance may see the
change wrought in the ears by the chaIky
Jumps and concretions under the skin that
never fail to show themselves there, that
sometimes attain the size of the curious
little notch seen in the upper edge of
many ears, and said by those who have
faith in the intricacies of evolution to be
the remnant Of the ancestral ear Of the
last apish progenitor.
Few features Of the human BODY are
more distinctly beautiful thar the ear
when 1t is a beautiful ear; that is to say,
when it ~ rosy and little, and SO thin that
the blood CLOVIS behind 1t like O flame.
No sea shell with Its myriad delicate
whorls, with its pink and white, with its
polish and brittle daintiness, is half so
lovely, for no sea shell, after all, Is alive
when we see it, or when it has reached
that stage Of beauty. But the ear in its
perfection has the white throat beneath
1t, the clustering hair above it. the dam
ask cheek beside 1t, AID Is set off and
hcightenedin every line and tint by its sur
roundings, and as often as not has the eve
Of the beholder fastened to it on the point
of a quivering jewel glittering in it. Yet
let the ear be ever so small and curly-a
bit of transparency in the young girl
hers will be q very exceptional case If,
when she has attained the age that makes
caps advisable, she is not glad of the cap
to hide u large fat piece Of cartilage on
either side Of her head-not the least dis
agreeable Of the d~isagreeable things that
have come to her as warnings and evil
dences Of the end of all things.
This Is not the case with every person,
of coursei enough people to prove the
rule retain a sufficient shape to the ear
into old age; but by far the greater mum
Der of ears cease to be objects on which
the eye of another cares to linger, and
become objects which make every com
temporary put up a hand to see if his W
ears have turned into flaps OF e~lephantine
proportions. AS life goes on, every year
ancurls and straightens out the pretty
whorls Of most ears, and fattens, and
seems so to enlarge, the upper and outer
edge. perhaps not through growth, nor
even through the daily wiping of the
part, 80 much as through the loss of fat
in the tissues and the falling away Of
n~eighboring roundness and plumpness;
the one rendering the cartilage smooth,
the other making i. seem larger than it is
by comparison. In either event. the ear
OF the criminal Of to-day will hardly be
the same ear to appearance ten years
from to-day-wm be a very different car
in twenty years. The ears of elderl i;
persons tell the sad tale to any who care
to scrutinize them in sufficient number to
generalize from what is seen; and any
n who chooses may regretfully watch
the process, as time passes, which trans
forms n Of the choicest features of
physical charm into one of the ugliest.-
Harper's Bazaar.